Pre-Code Corner: Scarface – An Anti-Gangster Picture? When I set out to research Scarface (1932) in the Academy’s Production Code Administration (PCA) files, I was met with an overwhelming amount of material; so much so that it took me five … Continue reading →

Pre-Code Corner: Man Wanted – Experience Necessary “Can’t you get it through your fat head that today there’s just as many serious-minded women in business as men. When you meet them you don’t have to treat them as if you … Continue reading →

Pre-Code Corner: Outward Bound: High Class on the High Seas “A helluva good picture about heaven!” a September 1930 Variety ad boisterously proclaimed of Outward Bound. Leave it to Warner Brothers to make a surpassingly ethereal, sophisticated picture… and then … Continue reading →

So You Want to be a Nurse: Tricks of the Trade, Pre-Code Style You know how it goes: You score a new job you’re stoked for and arrive day one full of positivity, high hopes, good cheer, and ambition. And … Continue reading →

Three Wise Girls All Mixed Up Three Wise Girls (1932) is a rather apt screen title for a book one reviewer for the Studio Relations Committee (SRC) termed: “An exceedingly tawdry and cheap piece of literature designed to thrill a … Continue reading →

“I Didn’t Know You With All Your Clothes On”: The Best of Pre-Code Warren William Warren William is so entrenched with the pre-Code period in my mind that it’s not surprising to learn that, aside from two appearances credited as Warren … Continue reading →

One More Hurdle to Cross: The Censorship Woes of One More River In between the credits and the opening shot of One More River, a certificate proclaims that the picture has been passed by the Production Code Administration (PCA), the … Continue reading →

Warner Brothers Horror, In Living (Two) Color: Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum As part of their career retrospective Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film, the UCLA Film and Television Archive recently screened a superb pre-Code triple feature: … Continue reading →